Chapter 3
The wind gradually died down, no longer dispersing the remaining warmth. Li He awoke from this long dream. He leaned against the wall, not caring about the straw mat that had slid off him and onto the ground. As he recalled this rare, beautiful dream, his once clear consciousness began to blur again. The faces of his family faded from his mind, and even the tune of the ballad that A Niang had sung over and over again faded.
After waking up completely, Li He only remembered that he had slept for a long time. In his dream, he held a black fish tightly and someone was waiting for him to return home. He clenched his fingers, as if holding the fish, paving the way for his future home - the river was vast, flowing north[1], and he still had a black fish left to give to A Niang and the others...
Li He leaned against the wall and slowly touched the ground. He slipped into his narrow straw sandals and reached out to pick up the mat. Then he looked beyond the straw curtain. The moonlight had faded, the sky was slowly brightening, and the wind had subsided. It looked like today would be one of those rare, fine days of late autumn. His movements strained his still-healing stomach wound, and Li He, enduring the pain, tried to walk a few steps on his own, leaning against the bed. Sweat rolled down his forehead, and his tense skin still lingered from the fatigue of lying in bed for so long. The pain grew more pronounced and more pronounced as he recovered.
When the distant roosters crowed at the sun, he sat back on the bed, letting his legs continue to tremble. The morning breeze blew away the cold sweat, but Li He kept his eyes open, waiting for the fatigue to pass. This was probably just like farm work; keep working, and as you get used to it, you won't feel tired anymore. When his energy level returned, he would go over his promise to the old man in detail. Before the grain collection, he wanted to take a walk around the neighborhood.
He wanted to walk around and see if there was a river nearby and if there were any fish in it. He missed the river so much, and he also missed the dream he had last night so much.
The old doctor had also woken up. He covered the youngest with his own straw mat, hoping that he would wake up on his own when the sun got a little stronger. The dried herbs were piled in a corner of the room. He squatted down, selecting them and mixing them according to the proportions he had calculated. He paused, then added a portion of the herbs he was going to sell, hoping that his injuries would heal faster.
He was truly powerless, or perhaps he was using a favor to hold his life hostage. On the battlefield, only generals died in battle, and he had never seen anyone come back. All he could do was to share half of the herbs he needed to make a living to save others.
The youngest turned over and began to cough continuously. The old doctor dragged his inconvenient legs to pat the youngest's back. He could only rely on himself to overcome the cold. The herbs were really not enough.
After he had sorted out the herbs, he cooked a thin porridge, mixing half a handful of rice with the grass roots to dye the water green and black. The remaining fire was used to boil the medicine. The old doctor interrupted the youngest child as he was about to serve the porridge. He put down his stick, took the youngest child's hand and went into the room where Li He lay.
Li He was about to stand up again, wanting to walk out, to explore the room. "Old man," he called out, only to be moved a step faster. "Please sit down, benefactor. My son and I have no way to repay you, so we can only kneel three times in gratitude." As his head banged against the sand, Li He saw the bent neck and the black and white hair, mixed with blood from the crushed stones. Three claps, the favor was repaid.
"You saved my life, old man. Please stand up. I'll be there when the grain is collected." He took the vegetable soup and herbs the old man offered him, his eyes filled with the heat, which was much thicker than the medicine he had drunk yesterday. Li He raised his head and drank the medicine and vegetable soup. He wanted to say something, but stopped asking questions for the time being. He certainly understood the old man's painstaking efforts. One in return for another's rescue, it was unclear who was repaying whom.
The pain in his body eased considerably as the heat flowed through him. Li He put the empty bowl back on the ground and looked at the old doctor. "I've been lying here for a long time. Old man, do you know where I came from and where this is?"
"You're still young, my dear. When I dragged you back here two weeks ago, you must have come from the east. This year's harvest was poor, and herbs only grow more in the south and east." The old man folded the empty bowl and picked it up, his voice thick with coughs and wheezes. "This is just an abandoned village, not even a place name. The able-bodied men who should have left have gone to fight, and the remaining ones are old bones like me, half-stepped into the ground."
Li He reached out to untie the tightly wrapped bandage around his abdomen. As he pulled, the blood from the wound wasn't as much as yesterday. "So the war started in the east. When did you start collecting grain here, old man? How many years of tax exemption can we get if someone in the family goes off to fight?"
He saw the old man shook his head and his voice dropped even lower, "I'm afraid time is running out. In previous years, they could wait until winter, but this year the officials can't wait until the first snow..."
He stood up with the empty bowl and prepared to go out. "It would be good if I could avoid the grain tax for a year or two. When the barbarians attack, there will be nowhere to escape. My life and death will all depend on God..." He sighed and walked out with the straw curtain.
Li He still suppressed the long sigh that followed, all for the sake of survival. If he survived, maybe one day there would be no war to fight, and he would be able to raise chickens and have a home to stay at.
The herbs the old doctor had added took effect more quickly. Day by day, Li He was able to walk out of the house, his legs were less shaken, and the wound on his stomach had finally stopped bleeding. The new flesh that had grown back itched so much that he couldn't sleep all night. He rarely got a good night's sleep anymore, so he didn't have any more dreams.
He went out more and more often. Before, he would be helped by his grandfather to walk around the thatched cottage a few times, but now he would let his youngest child take him for a walk inside or outside the village. Naturally, there were not many people in the village, and they would remain silent when they saw outsiders. Li He would only accompany his youngest child for a walk, and the child would still smile more. When he saw a bird, he would stretch his neck and run after it. When he saw the sun set, he would drag him back home. When it rained heavily, rainwater would leak through the thatched roof, and his youngest child would drag the straw mat to sleep with him, so that he would be warm all night.
Li He thought this way. In his eyes, the youngest son was becoming more and more like his younger brother, though he was much more lively than his younger brother, perhaps because he had his own father. The old man was busier. Every morning, he would carry the youngest son on his back, looking for herbs for the past few days, and then he would go find some herbs that could fetch a good price. He would then walk south to the shop and sell them to the shop assistants. Sometimes, if he could find some more valuable herbs, he could save some money to buy food.
When the itching subsided, the old man gave the herbs directly to Li He every day and asked him to grind them and apply a layer on the wound. It took quite some time for the external wound to heal, but it would be completely healed in another three to five days.
Li He was also able to walk further on his own, following his youngest son to the foot of the nearby mountain to look for herbs. Although he was young, he had learned a lot. He had been looking for herbs with his grandfather since he was little, and now he could teach Li He a few. Willow of the Xihe River dispels wind and dampness, Notopterygium wilfordii relieves pain and dispels cold, and Astragalus membranaceus replenishes qi and discharges pus, heals sores and promotes tissue regeneration.[2] Recognizing more herbs might be of urgent use, and if he collected a lot, he could earn more money.
Li He would sometimes ask him where he had found himself, but the youngest boy was at a loss for words. Yesterday, he'd said it was just south of the village, no need to cross the mountain. Today, it was a sandy field to the west, overgrown with weeds, with only withered grass growing amidst the piles of corpses. Dragging him back had taken considerable effort, and it had caused the old man to sigh and groan, sleep deprived.
Li He reached down his hair and touched the child's head, then carried the medicine basket on his back and headed back with the youngest. Finding the way back was unlikely. The weapons left on the battlefield had long been picked up by those who came later. All he could remember was that most of the troops had died, and only a few survived. He had originally hoped to pick up a few suits of armor along the way, mend them, and hide them for the youngest and the old man to keep warm for the winter, but there was no other way to go.
Today, they'd walked farther over the mountains than usual, and the child was clamoring to rest. Li He sat down with him and told him about his home, the river that flowed at the village's entrance, and the name he had learned. "I've never seen a river before. I only know that during the summer rains, when the water is flooded for a few days, we can't go out to the fields. The medicinal herbs get drowned in the mud and trampled, and my father can't go out either. In the summer, we have to rely on our stored food to survive."
"Li He? I can't read, but I know you mean a river flows to lower places." The child plucked a piece of half-dried hay and chewed it to quench his thirst. "When I grow up, I'll take my father to the capital. They say medicinal herbs are more valuable there. Maybe we'll see rivers and streams along the way, and have a full meal every day."
"Dad said that when I grow up, my eldest brother and the others will come back to find me. I want to grow up quickly and go find my eldest brother and the others first. I must be taller than my third brother."
As the youngest child talked about medicinal herbs and his eldest brother, Li He listened quietly, barely suppressing a sigh as he recalled the old man's earlier words. "When the child grows up, searching will help him understand what war is, what ordinary people are, and what ordinary families are like. As long as he's willing to search, he can survive. Live one more day, and perhaps one day he'll truly get what he wants."
Li He took his youngest's hand and walked down the winding, rugged mountain road. The sun was about to set, and a light drizzle soaked their linen clothes. They quickened their pace, hoping to find a clear day to dry the herbs in their straw baskets before selling them to the herbal medicine shops. By the time they reached the village, their shoes were caked with mud. The thin smoke from cooking fires in the distance was almost obscured by the rain. An old man had built a small fire near the house. He boiled some vegetable water in the pot as usual, and used a bowl to catch the relatively clean rainwater dripping from the tips of the thatch, which he would pour into a jar in advance for winter use.
Li He unloaded his backpack and spread the herbs on the floor. The youngest child huddled with the old man to collect three bowls of vegetable soup to cool. After finishing their respective tasks, they gathered around the fire. Rain blew in from the side of the wind, melting the outlines of the flames. The dry grass burned to ash, wetted by the dripping water. The tossing and turning of the night gradually subsided. Perhaps the rain drifted into the house, and into dreams.
[1] From "The Great Lady of Wei"
[2] I searched for some medicinal herbs that are mostly grown in the northwest. The drying process and effect are naturally greatly reduced under the background of the times, so I won’t delve into it.
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